1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for controlling the displacement of a vehicle pedal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various conventional structures have been devised as countermeasures for the time an external force of a predetermined value or greater is applied from the front of a vehicle. An example of such countermeasures is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 1-73464.
To briefly explain the structure disclosed in JP-U No. 1-73464, as illustrated in FIG. 24, a steering column 402 which covers a steering shaft 400 is supported at a vehicle body by a tilt bracket 408 and a shaft 410. The tilt bracket 408 is formed from an upper plate member 404 and a pair of side plate members 406. The shaft 410 passes through the side plate members 406 and supports the lower side of the steering column 402.
A knee protector 412, which is shaped as a substantially circular arc-shaped surface and is elastically deformable, is disposed beneath the tilt bracket 408. The knee protector 412 is elastically supported at the lower side of the steering column 402 via an elastically deformable stay 414.
In accordance with the above-described structure, when an external force of a predetermined value or greater is applied from the front of the vehicle, a vehicle occupant starts to inertially move toward the front of the vehicle, and accordingly, the legs of the vehicle occupant start to inertially move in the same direction while bending with the knees as the starting point of bending. Therefore, if the knee protector 412 were not provided, the driver's knees might contact the tilt bracket 408. However, if the knee protector 412 is provided beneath the tilt bracket 408 as described above, the driver's knees only contact the knee protector 412.
This structure in which the knee protector 412 is provided is useful as a countermeasure at the time that an external force of a predetermined value or greater is applied from the front of the vehicle. However, countermeasures for protecting the legs of the vehicle occupant can also be studied from other points of view.
Other examples of conventional structures for controlling displacement of a vehicle pedal include German Patent No. 4,305,290, which discloses a structure for bending a pedal bracket upward and displacing a pedal upward, German Patent No. 4,340,633, which discloses a structure for rotating and displacing a pedal upward when a steering column is displaced toward the front of a vehicle, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 8-175346, which discloses a structure for deforming a pedal bracket and displacing a pedal.
The present inventors conceived of the idea of the present invention from this standpoint, conducted various experiments, and arrived upon extremely effective countermeasures which control the displacement of a vehicle pedal such as a brake pedal at the time that an external force of a predetermined value or greater is applied from the front of the vehicle, by focusing on the deformation and the displacement behavior of the body panel and the like at the time such an external force is applied.